Measure of a Hero
by historian
Summary: Cassidy Cornell goes to sleep in her dorm room in Los Angeles...and wakes up in Reefside during the reign of the evil White Ranger. But things aren't the way she remembers them. We know the Dino Thunder teens have what it takes to be a hero-does Cassidy?
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: Much against my will, I'm starting yet ANOTHER story. I really shouldn't be doing this, considering that I have FIVE other ongoing stories, but I'm apparently a slave to my plot bunnies. And yes, it's another Cassidy fic. Even I'm amazed at how much I like this character (and Devon), considering that the only thing Bulk and Skull do for me is to make me grind my teeth in irritation._

_Also, I've tweaked the story idea from the summary I posted on my profile. I'll try to update that as soon as possible._

_Just a word of warning: with this story, I intend to screw with not only Cassidy's head, but my readers as well. Don't worry if you're as confused as she is; all will be explained in time (evil laughter)._

Cassidy Cornell woke up in a cold, sweat, her heart pounding. That had to have been the worst nightmare she'd ever had. And the funny thing was she could hardly remember any of it. The only thing she could recall was evil, mocking laughter.

Then she noticed her darkened surroundings, and immediately concluded that she was still sleeping. This wasn't her room.

Or rather, it was her room, but still the _wrong_ room. She was supposed to be seeing her dorm room. Instead, she appeared to be in her room in her parents house, the way it was her senior year of high school. Yep, definetely still sleeping.

Fortunately, she had a sure-fire remedy for this. She grabbed her arm and pinched hard.

"OW!!"

Okay, THAT had never happened. Usually she immediately woke up. This meant...she didn't want to think about what this meant.

She racked her memory for what could have happened. She distinctly remembered going to sleep in her dorm room at UCLA--alone, as usual, as her roommate was a real party girl and rarely came home at night.

She still shuddered to think that could easily have been her fate...if it hadn't been for the DinoThunder Rangers. Or, to be more honest, if it hadn't been for the most momentous decision of her young life, her decision not to reveal the Ranger's identities to the entire world.

It had been a close-run thing. At the time, she had still thirsted for journalistic success, and that expose would have made her the most famous journalist in world history. But something had stopped her. Her extensive research and efforts to unmask the Rangers had lead to a deep-seated admiration for them. They risked their lives every day against a sadistic, inhuman enemy, and what really boggled her mind was that they took no public credit for it. She knew that if that had been HER, she wouldn't have been able to shut up about her heroics. Though she didn't realize it until later, she had done some sub-conscious maturing. That new maturity won out over her desire over fame.

And she had been rewarded with five new friends; the first real friends, besides Devon, that she'd ever had. At first, she'd been uneasy around them, her usual self-confidence lacking. She'd felt they were just being nice to her so she'd keep their secret. Or at best, that Ethan was forcing the others to tolerate her. But she soon realized that that wasn't the case, that their sentiments were sincere. She'd relaxed and returned their gestures, and never looked back.

They were the reason she'd decided to earn her bachelors in journalism. They hadn't gotten where they were by taking shortcuts to success, and she realized she couldn't either. Fortunately, her hare-brained "instant fame" schemes hadn't pulled down her grades, and with them, a good SAT score, and glowing recommendations from Dr. O. and Principal Randall, she'd gotten in.

She still kept in touch with all of them. Mostly by e-mail, of course; it was hard to afford long-distance bills when you were a college freshman. Usually they only used the phone on the rare occasions Ranger history came up. Connor, to no one's surprise, had been snapped up by a professional soccer team during his first tryout, and was already their biggest star. Ethan was in college too, but in addition also ran a small-scale software company on the side that was already attracting notice. Trent worked toward his art degree, and some of his superhero sketches were going to be published in a comic book that specialized in featuring new artists. Kira had decided she needed something to fall back on if her music failed, and was studying to become a high-school music teacher--something Dr. O especially teased her about. The good Doctor himself continued to teach at Reefside, seeming content with the quiet life, although in Cassidy's opinion, he needed a girlfriend.

And then, of course, there was Devon. Her boyfriend. The young man she'd realized she loved, although she'd yet to find the courage to tell him so. The only bad thing about him was that he'd failed to get into college, so he had to take fast-food and other "dead-end" jobs. She was proud that the new Cassidy never once looked down on him for that. He sometimes felt he wasn't worth her while, but she made it clear that he was. It gave her yet another reason to succeed: so she could support them both and Devon could find something he really wanted to do.

But none of that explained this.

She hesitantly got to her feet and began to explore the room. If this was a dream, it was certainly the most realistic one she'd ever had. Everything was in place, including things she was sure she'd forgotten. But how could it be real?

Finally she got to her closet. She opened it, and blinked in surprise. This was the first "off" thing she'd found. _I never had that much pink in my closet,_ she thought.

Then she noticed something on the edge of her vision. She tilted her head to look at it...and her mind shut down.

She spent the next fifteen minutes standing as still as a statue, staring at the morpher on her right arm.


	2. Chapter 2

To her credit, after the fifteen minutes of shock wore off, she did the only thing any rational person could do. She panicked.

"Ohgodohgodgodohgod..." She kneeled down on the floor clutching her head frantically. This_ had_ to be a dream. It had better be a dream. She didn't want to be a Power Ranger!

Oh sure, before she discovered their identities, she'd wondered what it would be like. Devon had thought it would be the coolest thing ever. But that was before the secret interviews with the Rangers. Before they viewed Dr. O's history of the Ranger saga. Before they saw all the sweat, blood, and tears that were part and parcel of wearing a morpher. They'd been blinded by the sheer power, the fighting skills, and the fact that the Rangers always seemed to win. They hadn't realized that a lot of Ranger wins were by the skin of their teeth. They'd had to sacrifice every last drop of their power to defeat Mesogog, and they hadn't been the first team to do that. Dating outside the team was almost impossible, and a lot of the battles tended to get personal--Zeltrax wasn't the first villian to bear a grudge against a Ranger.

Given all that, Cassidy had been grateful that hadn't been her burden to bear. Apparently, she was still in a nightmare. But she had no clue how to wake up.

"Cassidy!" Her head snapped up at what sounded very much like her mother's voice. "Get going or you're going to be late for school!"

She automatically glanced at the clock. Her mom was right. She had half-an-hour to get to Reefside High. She shook her head. Was she actually taking this seriously!? Apparently, she didn't have a choice. Either she would wake up or...well, she didn't have an "or". This obviously wasn't time travel, though her expertise in that was limited to a few sci-fi movies Ethan had dragged her to. Things were VERY different.

But something sparked in her mind thinking about Ethan and science fiction..alternate universes. Ethan had been raving about a new comic book about an alternate version of _Star Wars IV: A New Hope_, where Luke Skywalker fails to destroy the first Death Star. _(Author's Note: There actually is a comic book like this, though I don't think it was published yet in this era.)_ That was about the sum of her knowledge, but aside from this being a dream, it was only the explanation that made sense.

Cassidy took a deep breath and deliberately calmed herself. This wasn't the only weird thing that had happened to her, though it was the biggest. She had been zapped into a computer game, aged prematurely, and tried to give an interview to a monster (she still counted herself lucky it hadn't destroyed her on the spot). She could deal with this. Somehow.

She automatically prepared herself for the day, not stopping until she noticed she had pulled on a pink blouse. Growling, she pulled it off and put on a white one. At least, she tried to. It just didn't feel...right. Giving up with a sigh, she redonned the pink one and grabbed her schoolbag.

She had finally come up with a plan. Get throught the school day, then make a beeline to Haley. Haley could figure this out; Haley could figure anything out. She hoped desperately that Mesogog would not launch at attack; she would probably get herself killed, not to mention she had no idea how to fight on a team. But she rememberd that he rarely attacked during the school day

Skipping breakfast as she didn't feel the least bit hungry, she started the walk to school.

---

Kira Ford leaned against her school locker, waiting for her friends to arrive. Her friends...she still shook her head in wonderment at that. She would never in a million years have expected to be friends with these people. But they'd quickly realized Dr. O was right; they had to be a team if this was going to work.

Ethan James was probably the easiest to get along with. The only thing she could really hold against him was that stunt with the sprinklers the first day of school. Other than that, he was pretty laid back, except when it came to video games.

Connor McKnight had been harder to get close too, though not as hard as she expected. She had always known him as an arrogant jock, so it had surprised her that he hadn't let his position as Red Ranger go to his head. If anything, he had seemed overwhelmed by it. She realized later that she couldn't blame him; it was quite a responsability to have dropped on one's head. But it had sobered the young man considerably, and he turned out to be a good leader.

She still felt a little weird about Dr. O being a teammate as well as a mentor and a teacher. It was a big help on the battlefield, and she and the others were in awe of his fighting skills. They were initially a little intimidated at fighting alongside a Ranger legend, but he always treated them as equals as Rangers, and deferred to Connor's leadership.

Cassidy Cornell had had the hardest transition, both for herself and for the others. Out of the four teenagers who had stumbled into these powers ass-backwards, she seemed the most unlikely. She wouldn't even have been there if she hadn't tried to interview Principal Randall that morning. The girl was an extremely irritiating, immature busybody. It was all Dr. O could do to keep her from proclaiming her identity to the world. Fortunately, Dr. O could be very persausive. And, Kira was now ready to grant, deep down Cassidy had known he was right. Kira now felt more sympathy for her. All of her life she'd been an outsider, trying to record others doing interesting things. Now she was _living_ the news, and it had taken her some time to adjust, but she seemed to be doing it. The distance between her and Kira was slowly closing as they spent more time together, and as they bonded over being the only females on the team.

Speak of the Devil, here came Cassidy now. But something was...off. She looked wide-eyed and skittish, which was not typical of the self-confident girl. Granted, she'd let out a terrified scream when first saw the Tyrannodrones, and again when they faced off against the first "monster of the week" as Dr. O. called them, but then they all had been a least a little bit scared. She'd settled down after that, her exclamations limited to comments of how gross the monstes were. This always made her teammates roll their eyes; Cassidy was such a girly-girl. Kira couldn't imagine being saddled with the color pink.

Today Cassidy was also subconsciously fiddling with her morpher, in its' "dormant" state underneath her sleeve, as if she wasn't used to it being there. They'd all done that the first week or two, but now they'd been Rangers for three months. What was her problem?

"Hey," Kira greeted, only to be surprised again when Cassidy jumped in surprise, like she wasn't expecting Kira to greet her.

":Uh..hey! I mean, hi! Did you want something? Oh wait, that was rude...please don't be insulted..."

Kira blinked. It had been a while since she'd had Cassidy-babble directed at her. "Can't a girl say hi to her friend?"

She marvelled that Cassidy's eyes could get even wider. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out for several seconds. Then abruptly, "I have to go!" She quickly walked away.

Kira was now throughly confused and a little insulted. She held her tongue though, only calling after her "Remember we're meeting at Dr. O's after school!" Cassidy nodded without turning around or stopping. What was going on here?

Kira thought for a minute, than deliberately put the problem out of her mind. The team had a bigger problem to deal with...a white-colored problem.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the longest school day of Cassidy's life. Seemingly being a Ranger made her paranoid, constantly expecting a Tyrannodrone to jump out at her. The concerned looks Dr. O and the other Rangers kept sending her threw her off as well. She'd often wished she'd been more friendly to them in their Ranger days, but having someone besides Devon actually _care_ about her was unsettling.

Devon...that was another problem. She could barely stop herself from leaping into his arms and spilling out the whole story the moment she saw him in homeroom. The only thing preventing that initially was the realization that she wasn't his girlfriend yet. At best, Devon would have been very confused. At worst, he might have thought she'd gone crazy. It only got worse when a another thought passed through her mind. She checked his left arm--no morpher. Great. Just great. She was in the wrong time, the wrong universe, there was a psychotic humanoid dinosaur out to kill her, she was best friends with four people who shouldn't even be giving her the time of day, and she couldn't breathe a word of it to the man she loved.

The only bright spot was that she remembred enough of her past lessons to breeze through her classes.

---

Haley sighed as yet another scan came up empty. She'd been searching for the mysterious (and very evil) White Ranger all day, and had achieved absolutely nothing. She could detect the other Rangers; why couldn't she find him?

Giving up for the moment, she turned to look at Cassidy, who was sitting on a chair in the corner of the basement, arms wrapped around herself and eyes fixed on the floor. While she wasn't exactly close to the teen, she could tell something was deeply wrong.

For all the faith Haley and Tommy had in the wisdom of the Power, letting Cassidy Cornell become an active Ranger had not been an easy choice. The girl simply did not give a good first impression, and that had only been compounded by the other Rangers' accounts of her behavior for her entire school career. They had seriously considered asking her to just stay on the sidelines and out of the way. In the end, though, Tommy had decided to give her a chance. He didn't say so, but Haley knew his reasoning: the original Rangers had had even less reason to let Tommy himself on their team.

So far, Cassidy was proving herself. She still had moments of great air-headedness, but they were becoming fewer as time went by (and to be honest, Connor had the same problem). She was becoming a fairly good martial artist. More importantly, she was becoming a good team member. Haley knew the female Rangers were traditionally the heart of any Ranger team, and while Kira and Cassidy weren't quite there yet, they were heading in that direction. Kira was the tough one who no crap from anybody. Cassidy was the softer one, not afraid to fight but able to help keep the Rangers linked to their civilian lives.

Just now, though, Haley was deeply curious as to what was bothering the Pink Ranger. She'd already asked once, but Cassidy had firmly replied that she needed to tell the whole team. Haley just hoped she wasn't planning on quitting.

The rest of the DinoThunders tramped down the stairs, scattering to the various seats in the room. Tommy looked at her with an expression of _did you find him?_ Her expression answered in the negative. Tommy sighed in his turn.

The students (except Cassidy, who was still staring at the floor) interpreted this exchange correctly, though they responded with more than a sigh. Connor slammed his hand against the wall. "Great! What are we supposed to do, wait until he shows up and beats the crap out of us again? He nearly killed Kira!"

Haley could tell Tommy was about to launch into a morale-boosting lecture, and normally she would have let him, but she wanted to get Cassidy's problem out of the way first. So she cut her friend off: "Cassidy has something she needs to say."

The team turned to look at the blond, who finally looked up, though she seemed to have a hard time meeting their gaze. Kira asked, with surprising gentleness, "Does this have something to do with why you're acting so weird today?"

Cassidy took a deep, shuddering breath. "This is all wrong..."she whispered.

Ethan misunderstood her. "No lie! We're facing an evil Ranger!"

"That's not it!" Cassidy cut him off sharply, then winced. "_I'M_ all wrong. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be a Ranger."

Haley was very surprised. This wasn't like Cassidy at all. "Cassidy, if this is about how the White Ranger taunted you..."

Cassidy shook her head. Then, seeming to draw on inner strength, she asked something that threw everyone in the room for a loop: "What do you guys know about alternate universes?"

Everyone stared at her. Then Ethan blurted "Since when are you interested in science fiction?"

"Because I woke up today in a science fiction story," Cassidy said evenly. Before anyone could speak, she continued, "I went to bed last night at age 19 in my dorm room on the UCLA campus. I'd already graduated from high school. The Power Rangers had beaten Mesogog. I wasn't the Pink Ranger. There WAS no Pink Ranger. Devon and I spent the whole year trying to figure out who you guys were. We found out right before the last battle by sheer accident. You people were NOT my friends, though god knows I never gave you any reason to be. So this is all wrong. And, no it wasn't a dream, and no, I'm not crazy," she finished, looking at each of them in turn.

An uncomfortable silence stretched out. Finally, Tommy managed, "Cassidy, I really don't know what to say."

Cassidy turned pleading eyes on him and Haley. "Tell me you know how to send me back?"

The two adults looked at each other helplessly. Haley replied "I'm sorry, Cassidy, but we don't."

Cassidy seemed to crumple in on herself, trying desperately not to cry. The other teens hesitated for a moment, then went over to her, embracing their teammate. For several minutes they comforted Cassidy, as Tommy and Haley looked on impotently.

Finally Cassidy straightened up, quietly thanking the people who were, in this reality, her friends. The other high schoolers retreated back to their seats. Then Connor said, "So, we're really going to beat Mesogog?"

Ethan looked thoughtful. "If she's really from another universe, Connor, we shouldn't make that assumption. She wasn't a Ranger. If things are that different, nothing's guaranteed to be the same here."

"I just hope my being here doesn't screw everything up," Cassidy whispered.

Kira leaned forward. "Cass, even if you're not a Ranger where you come from, you are here. And I'll be the first to say, you're a pretty good one. You're NOT a liability."

"But I don't know how to fight!" she wailed. "I don't even know what my power is!"

"Flight." Cassidy looked over at Dr. O. "You can fly."

"Oh." She thought for a moment. "Well, that's useful." Then she visibly squared her shoulders. "Okay, assuming things are MOSTLY the same here, I've got some information that might help."

Haley was the first to catch on. Her eyes widened. "You know who the White Ranger is!" The others stared at her in shock.

Cassidy nodded. "Trent Mercer."

Kira was the first to break the shocked silence. "NO! No way ! Trent would never do that to us!"

Cassidy looked at her fellow female Ranger compassionately. "He doesn't have a choice, Kira. Mesogog found the White Gem first and turned it evil--we never figured out how--and Trent found it accidentally; it bonded with him. The Gem has a will of its' own; he's not in control when he's morphed."

The others digested that. That Kira asked hopefully "But...but it can be broken, right? I mean..."

Cassidy sighed. "In my universe, it was, but only accidently. A high-powered laser beam hit the Gem for several seconds and, well, literally burned the evil out. I'm sure Haley can whip up something..." she looked over at the genius.

Haley thought for a minute. "A laser is child's play...but how on earth are we going to get him to hold still long enough to hit the gem?"

Cassidy shook her head. "I don't know...and there's another problem." When everyone looked at her, she continued, "his father is Mesogog."

The shocked silence lasted a lot longer this time. Finally Tommy asked in a whisper "How?"

"The science is beyond me, but in a moment of great stupidity, Anton Mercer consumed a formula that wasn't nearly as safe as he thought it was. It made his dark side manifest itself as Mesogog. Mesogog is dominant, which is why Anton has been acting so strange and trying very hard to avoid you guys." She held up her hand. "And before you ask, I don't know to separate them. It did happen, but we never found out how." (_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't seen the episode where Anton and Mesogog split, so I'm ad-libbing here._)

Connor rubbed his head. "I have a headache..."

"You're not the only one," Tommy commiserated. "We've been so blind..." He shook his head and looked wearily at Cassidy. "Any OTHER bombshells you'd like to drop on us?"

She actually smiled. "Just one...Principle Randall is Elsa."

Yet another silence, yet again broken by Kira, "That...explains a lot, actually."

"Man!" Connor exclaimed. "We're surrounded by bad guys and didn't even notice!"

Suddenly a computer monitor began to _bleep_ loudly. Haley ran over to it and swore softly. "Speaking of bad guys, White Ranger is tearing up the market district!"

Connor immediately assumed a mantle of command that would have greatly surprised anyone who didn't know he was a Ranger. "Haley, get to work on that laser. The rest of us will bring him in." He looked at Cassidy and hesitated.

She understood---and stood up. "I'm a raw rookie," she admitted, "but the evil Trent I knew kicked serious ass. You might need my help." She paused for a second. "The only tactical advice I can give is to hold on as long as possible. The Gem is morphing him against his will, which means it can't hold the morph for long periods of time. If we drag it out, he might unmorph."

The other Rangers nodded and lined up. Cassidy joined them with great trepidation. They summoned their morphers.

"DinoThunder power up, ha!"


	4. Chapter 4

The scene that greeted the DinoThunder Rangers' eyes was a typical one--a trashed street, civilians running every which way in panic, and the bad guy laughing in the middle of it all. But the fact that this time it was a Ranger was jarring.

"Back for more, Dino-Wimps?" Even behind a helmet, White Ranger's sneer was obvious.

"Not this time, Trent!" Connor shouted back confidently.

White Ranger paused in surprise. "So you figured it out, huh? Makes no difference; you're still going down!"

The other Rangers braced themselves as White Ranger drew arrows in the air. "Keep him busy," Connor said quietly. "Don't give him a chance to call his Zord; the last thing we need is another Megazord battle." The others nodded.

White Ranger fired his arrows, but at the last the second the DinoThunders scattered—all except Cassidy, who inexperience left her caught flat-footed, the arrows knocking her painfully backward and to the ground.

"Cass!" Connor shouted in concern.

"I'm…all right," she groaned. _They're right; the suits only stop SOME of the damage._ "Just…go get him!"

"Right!" Connor nodded and, drawing his Tyranno Staff, joined the others.

The battle raged for several minutes, and though Cassidy quickly recovered, she hesitated to join in. She had no martial arts experience, and she figured she' d just get in the others' way. But as time wore on, it became obvious that White Ranger was winning. While he could no longer short-circuit their powers thanks to Haley, he still had more raw power. Only Dr. O. was still on his feet now.

_That's it, I HAVE to help them! Weapons…I need weapons! They always told me this stuff was instinctive…_Cassidy concentrated her thoughts…and then she knew! "Plesiosaur Paddles!" The twin fan-like weapons appeared in her hands. _Now what?_ She thought, and then the instincts kicked in again. Paddles were good for making waves…in this case, air waves!

White Ranger had just finally taken down Dr. O. and was about to administer the killing blow, when a wall of air knocked him off his feet, sent him flying backwards, and finally _through_ a concrete wall!

Cassidy hurried to put herself between the gaping hole and the other Rangers, who were still groaning on the ground, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She knew White Ranger wasn't down for the count, and he was going to be PISSED. How was she going to beat him in a fair fight?

That's when she got an idea. _I'm Cassidy Cornell…since when do I fight fair?_

White Ranger leaped back through the hole, growling. That had HURT, and Pinky was going to pay! But to his confusion, he saw only the other Rangers. Had she chickened out?

He was caught completely off guard when two slender arms wrapped around his waist from behind, and plain, unmorphed Cassidy took herself…and him…up into the air.

"You blond bitch! Put me down!" His vastly superior strength was of little use now, because he couldn't get any leverage.

"Not…yet!" Cassidy grunted with strain. They now floated 200 feet above the street. With a silent prayer that she hadn't misunderstood the Haley of her universe when she described how tough the Ranger suits were, she whispered "Sorry, Trent…"—and let go.

He cursed her all the way down.

An exhausted Cassidy made a stumbling landing not far from the other DinoThunders, who where gathered anxiously around the hole in the concrete street White Ranger had made. She staggered over just in time to see him groan…and demorph back into Trent.

Tommy quickly handcuffed the unconscious boy. He and Ethan began dragging Trent towards Connor's car, which was concealed nearby. Connor clapped Cassidy on the shoulder. "Not bad for a rookie!"

Cassidy was glad the helmet hid her blush.


	5. Chapter 5

Back in Tommy's basement lab, the Rangers watched as Haley put the finishing touches on the hastily-built laser she had created. Trent was securely strapped down to a table, and still unconscious.

Everyone had looks of hope on their faces, but Cassidy noticed Kira was hoping a little more than everyone else. She smiled to herself. It looked like the Kira of this universe had a strong attraction to Trent, too. _Maybe I can do something about that_, she thought.

Just then, a groggy Trent awoke. "Wha…? What's going on!?" he said, struggling against his bonds.

"Sorry, Trent," Tommy said kindly but firmly, in what was (although the DinoThunders didn't know it) his "leader voice". "It's for your own good."

Haley decided to move quickly, before the Gem could try to morph him again. She flipped the switch, and ruby-red light shot out of the long rod mounted above Trent. The boy flinched instinctively, but the laser hit its' target dead-on. After a few seconds, an ugly black cloud rose from the contaminated Gem and quickly dissipated.

Haley kept the beam on for a few more seconds just to be sure, then turned it off. She checked the energy readings on the scanner, then looked at the Rangers and grinned.

"The dark energy is completely gone!" she announced, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Trent looked at Haley with disbelief and desperate hope. "You mean…it's over?"

It was Tommy who answered. "Actually, Trent, it's just beginning. You're still a Ranger…but now you can fight on the right side."

Trent looked away. "How can I, after…"

"Trent," Tommy said, his voice leaving no room for doubt, "It's not your fault! Believe me, I've been where you are, and I know how you feel…but you can make up for everything Mesogog made you do. Besides," he added, realizing that Trent didn't know much about the true nature of his powers, "The White Gem has bonded with your DNA. Only your death can break that bond, so Mesogog isn't going to leave you alone until either you're dead or he is!"

Trent swallowed. Hard. Then, with a shaky voice: "Okay. I'm in."

Tommy smiled and held out his hand. "Welcome aboard!"

Cassidy couldn't help but think that Connor and Ethan looked a lot less welcoming. Of course, that was understandable, after everything Trent put them—and the team in general—through. Even Kira, though obviously happy, had a certain amount of wariness in her expression.

Trent clearly sensed this, since he remained quite sober. After shaking Tommy's hand, he extended one to Cassidy. "Cassidy…I owe you more than I can ever repay! When I had the White Ranger in my head, I could sense what he—or it, or whatever it was—was thinking, and he considered you to be the weakest Ranger on the team." The no-longer-evil White Ranger lowered his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry to say I agreed with him. I suppose it's fitting, then, that _you_ were the one to take him down."

The Pink Ranger grasped the proffered hand firmly, and offered a genuine smile. "I just did what had to be done, Trent. That's what being a Ranger is all about!" She then gave a mental blink. _Whoa, where did THAT come from!? Maybe having the Power is affecting me more than I thought!_ Shaking off her surprise, she continued, "I have full confidence that you'll make a great Ranger!"

Trent gave her a grateful smile.

Haley was reluctant to interrupt this touching moment, but she realized that Trent was unaware of Cassidy's "problem". Clearing her throat, she started, "Trent, there's something you should know about Cassidy…"

(SCENE CHANGE)

It was a dog-tired Ms. Cornell who walked through the front door of her parents' house that evening. It had been a long day: the shock of finding herself in a strange universe; being back in high school; her first (at least THIS Cassidy's first) Ranger battle; freeing Trent from the control of the corrupted Gem…all the blonde wanted was to grab a bite to eat and go to bed!

She walked into the living room…and was horrified when she was her parents lying on the floor!

"Mom! Dad!" She couldn't tell if they were alive or not. She rushed forward to check on them…which proved to be a serious tactical mistake, since she hadn't bothered to check if anyone else was in the room.

Something hard and metal slammed into the back of her head, and the world faded to black.

_To Be Continued…_

NEXT CHAPTER: Cassidy's arrival in this universe was no accident…and the being behind it will be revealed! Mesogog gets a new ally…one who has come up with a VERY effective way to get the Rangers, and Cassidy in particular, to do what they want!

Who's the mystery character? Well, that's intended to be a surprise. But I will say this: it's a canon character!

What's the diabolical plan? Also a surprise! This time I'll give you TWO hints: 1) It's a plan used before in a previous Ranger series. 2) It came within an ace of succeeding!


End file.
